A Visit To Saugatuck Craft Butchery in Westport, Connecticut
Back in May of 2010, Joshua Applestone, of Fleisher’s Grass-Fed & Organic Meats, appeared on my television show and taught me the basics of butchering a pig. Disturbed by what they knew of industrial-farm practices, Joshua and his wife, Jessica, opened an old-fashioned butcher shop in Kingston, New York and now also in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The couple developed relationships with farmers who specialize in organic, pasture-raised meats. They butcher the meat themselves, sell this great-tasting product in their shops, and in doing so, support the responsible farmers in the bargain.
Recently, I learned of Saugatuck Craft Butchery, which opened its doors last November in my former hometown of Westport, Connecticut, and is owned by Ryan Fibiger. Fibiger started his career in finance on Wall Street and after relocating from Manhattan to Westport with his wife, Katherine, he became deeply disenchanted with the food choices in his new neighborhood. Fibiger learned about a Butchering 101 course being taught by Joshua Applestone at his shop in Kingston. After taking the class, Fibiger started rethinking his career path, spending his weekends as Joshua’s apprentice. Along the way, he met Paul Nessel, who had some restaurant experience and was also deeply interested in the art butchery. The two found a shack to rent near Kingston, which they dubbed ‘Meat Camp’, and spent an intensive eight months learning the craft. Saugatuck Craft Butchery is a gem of a shop, which Ryan and Paul run together. They are one of perhaps ten butcher shops in America that deal with cutting whole animals from nose-to-tail, sourcing their organic meat from local sustainable farms. It’s also a very friendly shop with wonderful customer relations and a true sense of community.
1 This is Ryan Fibiger, the owner and head butcher of Saugatuck Craft Butchery, hoisting the hind quarter of a steer.
2 Saugatuck Craft Butchery opened its doors for business last November in the newly constructed Saugatuck Center.
3 Saugatuck Center is located near the Westport Metro North train station on the banks of the Saugatuck River.
4 The bright and attractive market is flooded with natural light.
5 Store art
6 Did you know that 99% of supermarket meat is raised on factory farms, where the animals are fed a grain diet and given steroids or hormones to speed up the fattening process?
7 Ryan buys his meat from small local farms, where it was pasture-raised and lived stress-free lives. These animals were never given antibiotics, hormones, steroids, or animal by-products.
8 This all translates into leaner, healthier, and much better tasting meats.
9 All the meat is cut right on this large wooden butcher table in clear view of the customers.
10 Paul Nessel, co-owner and fellow butcher, was busy trimming steaks.
11 Some tools of the trade - An aluminum scabbard for holding ultra-sharp knives
12 More tools - knife steel, meat saw, and bone dusters, which remove unwanted fat from the surface of the meat.
13 Ryan mentioned that the American market prefers meat from the middle of the animal, where the beef is usually tender. Rib eye is a very popular cut.
14 Another big seller is the tenderloin.
15 And the London broil
16 And the sirloin tip
17 Ryan wants to educate about lesser-known cuts - The bavette is located between the sirloin and the flank. It has a character much like a flank or skirt steak, with an intense meaty flavor and a surprisingly delicate texture.
18 Veal is a sensitive topic and Ryan sells a limited supply. His veal comes from male calves acquired from dairy farms.
19 Fresh kale is used in the display cases as garnish.
20 The pork selections are quite amazing. Each week, Ryan orders three heritage breed pigs for butchering. The pork chops are tender, juicy, and very flavorful.
21 There is a thin cut.
22 And a super thick cut!
23 There's even a Westporkerhouse! This is a bit of humor and a takeoff of the beef term, porterhouse, which includes a T-shaped bone with meat on each side.
24 Pork shoulder is a large cut that requires a long cooking time. These shoulders are attractively trussed with butcher twine.
25 A closer look - With that layer of beautiful fat, the shoulder is sure to be fall-apart tender when roasted!
26 Again, the pork loin roast has a generous layer of fat for intense basting.
27 Pork tenderloin is the muscle that runs along the spine. It's the most tender part of the animal because this muscle is not used for locomotion.
28 Craft Butchery sells a lot of pork cutlets, a wonderful alternative to veal cutlets.
29 Meaty pork spare ribs
30 And fantastic looking pork belly! An interesting fact - Ryan says that nearly half of his customers are European or South American. They understand this old-time use of the whole animal.
31 Sausage-making is a large program at Craft Butchery.
32 There are several varieties of sausage to choose from.
33 Ryan explained that this machine is where sausage meat is blended and stuffed into casings. It can make batches of 100-pounds at a time.
34 Lamb is also very popular and they butcher four lambs per week. Bill Taibe's new restaurant, The Whelk, http://thewhelkwestport.com/ just across the way, buys quite a bit of lamb for its menu.
35 Beautiful rack of lamb
36 Meaty lamb shanks for braising
37 Lamb shoulder for slow roasting
38 And, of course, butterflied leg of lamb, which is amazing on the grill!
39 The ground beef is an 80/20% ratio of meat and fat, making for a nice and juicy recipe.
40 This vacuum sealing machine is used to package many cuts of meat and meat products.
41 Like these packages of ground bork, a combination of beef and pork. It's great for meatloaf, meatballs, and burgers.
42 They also make beef hotdogs and pork hotdogs.
43 And beef and bacon sliders
44 The bacon is smoked right outside in an electric smoker.
45 There's also smoked ham and delicious roast beef.
46 They sell a nice selection of artisanal cheeses.
47 And local charcuterie
48 Craft Butchery sells quite a bit of chicken, also locally grown in a humane and sustainable fashion. Fully roasted rotisserie chickens are very popular with train commuters.
49 And this is a fine example of what nose-to-tail butchering is all about.
50 Paul begins cutting the pigs head apart.
51 These are the prized and tender cheeks.
52 The pig jowls are used for guanciale, an unsmoked Italian bacon and the ears are showing up on menus braised until tender and then deep fried.
53 A local chef has been promised the brains. Behind Paul is the window of the dry aging room.
54 A peek inside the refrigerated dry aging room, where the meat rests in this controlled and closely watched environment.
55 The sections of meat are clearly labeled by date for proper aging. This aging process allows natural enzymes to break down the hard connective tissue in meats and for water to evaporate away concentrating the flavors.
56 Nearly every scrap of the animal is used in some way. This is where leftovers and bones are turned into rich stocks.
57 The stocks are available in the store's freezer.
58 Saugatuck Craft Butchery has received great press.
59 As part of the education process for using lesser-known cuts of meat, there are wonderful cookbooks with a focus on meat for sale.
60 Other artisanal products offered include Grand Gorge maple syrup from New York State. http://grandgorgegarlicandmaple.com/
61 And McClure's pickles from Brooklyn http://www.mcclurespickles.com/
62 Lovely eggs from Whispering Winds Animal Connection in Coventry, CT http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bc-chickenss-chicken-coop
63 Meat orders are nicely wrapped in brown butcher paper.
64 And sealed with a Saugatuck Craft Butchery label.
65 And brown bagged to go. Reusable insulated bags are available, if needed.
The meat cuts look amazing. I love the nose-to-tail idea and sourcing from sustainable farms. So nice to see this trade and craft being handled responsibly.
Posted by: Mario | February 22nd, 2012 at 1:18 am
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Just B | February 22nd, 2012 at 7:14 am
Wonderful tour Martha-Thank you. We have a wonderful butcher shop here in central New York and Amish farmers and non-Amish who sell grass-fed meats, and organic vegetables and fruits. It's wonderful, because this is what I grew up on. I hope America continues this trend back to natural food.
Posted by: Gail Hildreth | February 22nd, 2012 at 7:35 am
Isn't t scary to think about what is in our meats purchased from the supermarket? Although I am a vegetarian My husband and son are not and it is disturbing to know that the majority of meat sold could be full of steroids and/hormones! Yuck!!
Thanks for showing us this butchery in Westport Martha. How smart to offer fully cooked chickens for those who don't have time to cook to "homemade" stocks. Love it!
Posted by: Cindy F | February 22nd, 2012 at 8:39 am
Interesting they sell 'Eating Animals' by Jonathan Safran Foer; it's the book that made me become Vegetarian!
Posted by: Richard | February 22nd, 2012 at 9:34 am
I'm a beef farmer and want to thank you for this post. Not everyone dumps hormones and antibiotics into their cattle, and not everyone buys meat from the large stores that get their products from giant feedlots.
There's a world of difference in beef production when talking about finishing and butchering. ...don't get me started about factory farmed poultry and hogs....!!
Posted by: iacowgirl | February 22nd, 2012 at 10:26 am
Hi Martha, This is what could be called a delicious, healthy, important blog post about 3 brilliant fellows who care about providing excellent meats for us to enjoy!!! I do recall seeing Joshua Applestone on your TV Show and you did a great job butchering that pig with him teaching you the basics! Ryan and Paul sure do have a great butchery shop and your photos of the tremendous looking available meats are outstanding! The websites you provided were awesome and I sure would love to visit that terrific shop some day! Their extra items are also great and I'm sure they are organic, also! Thanks for sharing this, Martha! How nice it would be to have more of these butchery's all over the country! Hope you have another great day! Off to see The Daily Wag with Franny reading one of your magazines today! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 22nd, 2012 at 10:34 am
I wish we had this in the Philly suburbs. I would love to make my own scrapple with the leftover pork scraps, which you can't ever buy in the supermarkets. I love that they sell pre-ground meats AND stocks. His pork prices seemed very reasonable, too. There are many Italian butcher shops in the Philly area, but none that advertise grass-fed or organic like this, nor can you see the butchering process.
Posted by: Kelly | February 22nd, 2012 at 10:36 am
I enjoyed the tour of this store-very informative and interesting. I must add trying to feed a family today is expensive and I have to believe that the average family could not afford the prices for the meat being offered here. Why does eating more healthy have to be exclusive to the upper income family?
Posted by: Betty | February 22nd, 2012 at 11:10 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | February 22nd, 2012 at 11:55 am
I love how immaculate and clean the shop is. So beautifully organized...if i lived there i know i would be one of their customers.
Posted by: sherey | February 22nd, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Oh, my mouth is absolutely watering!
Posted by: Naomi Anselmo | February 22nd, 2012 at 12:28 pm
What an education! Thank you Martha!
Posted by: E. Teresa Touey | February 22nd, 2012 at 12:46 pm
MARTHA---What a terrific lesson on the right way to harvest meat! A meticulous shop, owned and operated by passionate people... Thank you for this great teaching! I am waiting for "Martha's Field Trips" to air on NBC. Nobody does these tours better than you do, Martha!
Posted by: Jonathan J. Brown | February 22nd, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Thank you for this very interesting and important post. Please keep advocating for farm animals and their treatment, for not using antibiotics and for supporting local business.
Posted by: Julia | February 22nd, 2012 at 2:08 pm
nice! So rare these days it's sad. I asked the meat-cutter in Safeway the other day to cut up a chicken for me and he refused! He said "we don't cut chickens" and gave some lame excuse about cross-contamination. Ummmmmm, you're a MEAT CUTTER? Don't you know how to take precautions? I guess I'll be shopping at the competition's store (where they cut up my chickens all the time!)
Posted by: Lisa | February 22nd, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Hi Martha,
I agree that Ryan and Paul have ‘a gem of a shop’ and I like that they don’t waste anything, but like Betty noted above, organic meat isn’t affordable to the average family. As much as I would love to shop in this type of butchery, I will have to be content with getting my meat at Costco. But I like Costco. Trish
~
P.S. Nice Brunch show today – I’m hungry for biscuits and eggs and chicken and all those goodies you had on the counter!
Posted by: Trish | February 22nd, 2012 at 2:11 pm
I wish there was a good butcher where I live. Very interesting!
Posted by: Judy | February 22nd, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Looks good! I've been cutting down on the amount of meat I eat, but at those prices I'd be eating a lot less! Out of my budget I'm afraid!
Posted by: Barbara | February 22nd, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Take a look at our local butcher shop for some
authentic butchering....
The Country Store, Pennsdale, PA
Posted by: nancy | February 22nd, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Just call me stupid but this is how I see it: We are in the middle of cold and flu season AND everyone I talk to is taking antibiotics. So Iacowgirl or ANYONE please tell me how an animal once sick is supposed to be treated. I sure must think if humans are taking precautions against major sickness then so must meat animal growers. And then there is that "full" of steriods. What is "full of"?????????? Is the meat blue, green, glows I want to know it when I see it. Please help.
Oh and regarding cross contamination of meats at Safeway. Well I have seen enough meat, cantalope, lettuce, spinach etc. news stories regarding contaminated food that I am sure no one in a store wishes to get in the news by selling a lady a chicken when she could cut it up herself at home.
As I said call me stupid but I am not sure what this blog informed me of...........
Posted by: Margie | February 22nd, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Thanks for sharing this post, Martha. I know my meats and those are very good cuts...! Come visit PA, Lancaster/Lebanon area and you'll see many butcher shops. Great Post..!
K
Posted by: Kathleen | February 22nd, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Butchering is a great family experience. I grew up on a ninety acre farm in Louisiana. On the grand day my uncles would dragoon us nephews for the actual job while the ladies would prepare for the mountain of meat. Looking back, it was the timeless ritual of family bonding over the boning, cubing, and jointing for the table. Great memories for a boy.
Posted by: r steven page | February 23rd, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Martha,
Thank you for this info. I am glad for people who care about the welfare of the animals. I have cooincidentally, only yesterday, seen video of factory farming practices and slaughter. I was no less than truly horrified and deeply saddened.
I am vegan for the last five months, but do realize everyone else will not be changing with me. So I really appreciate humane care of animals.
Nancy C.
Posted by: Nancy C. | February 23rd, 2012 at 12:20 pm
This was such an interesting and fantastic post. When I lived in Madison, Wisconsin it was such a hotbed of food politics and there was a hyper-awareness of the cost to humans of eating factory-raised farm animals due to the excessive use of drugs. People like the craft butchers featured here are real thought leaders in helping America find its way back to healthy, drug-free, environment-sustainable eating.
Posted by: Karen | February 24th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
Once again, Dakota Grassland was home of bison and now home of beef cattle. Converting grass into protein is sustainable agriculture and in a free country, each can make their own choice.
I do hope most realize many do have agenda managing reports to public.
Posted by: ann | February 27th, 2012 at 9:25 am